This is an incident that happened to me on my way back to Trivandrum from Ernakulam by bus. We were on a narrow bridge with two lanes when a motorbike tried to overtake us by going full speed. But unfortunately, there was a car coming from the other side and the rider hit the car. It was quite a gruesome accident. Of course, this being Kerala, the bus stopped and many people got down to see the victim. The licence numbers of the both the car and the bike was noted by the conductor of our bus and one person was trying to get some water for the victim. This enquiring mood did not last long though, in the very words of one of the passengers of the bus, “since the accident did not involve the bus in any way, we need not care at all and the bus should leave.” The infamous Malayalee spirit had taken over. The car involved on the accident waited for the police and so did the bike rider who was unconscious evidently with heavy injuries on his head and spine. The passengers of the bus were told to board the bus as it would be leaving. Inside the bus the discussion about the accident began. There was no doubt that it was the fault of the biker. So the discussion was about why we did not help the victim. Surprisingly, everyone seemed to think on the lines that since the bus was not involved we were not required to help at all.
It is said that God helps those who help themselves. I used to think that this meant that we should learn to take care of ourselves and not be dependent on others. But I have now learnt that this means the we should try our best not to help others and we should not help ourselves either, otherwise we wouldn’t need a god to help us!
As the bus left I could see the bike rider lying on the footpath with his motorbike kept beside him and his bag kept near his hand for easy access. He was unconscious though. And where was I during this whole episode unfolded in front of me. I was worse than the average Malayalee. I did not leave my seat fearing I would lose it. I did not enquire about his condition and just kept on listening to the others.
The value we give to another human’s life is always more than ours. If we think of an unknown person’s life to be highly valuable we would also be right up there. But on the other hand if we deem another person not worthy of our help we too are worthless indeed. If human life could be measured in absolutes then the average of them all would be very low. The life of the common man is quite worthless for if he was worthy of anything then he would not be common at all.
